The Grand Meeting
by hawkeyesbutt
Summary: Marceline is invited to the Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty. She's surprised when she sees Princess Bubblegum there, and they end up arguing like always. Will they ever get over their problems with each other and work things out? Will move up to M in later chapters. Marceline/PB
1. Chapter 1

Marceline floated to her front door, one arm carrying a bag of groceries, the other holding her keys. She unlocked the door, stepping inside and putting the bag on the kitchen counter. She started to walk towards her sofa after figuring she could relax a little and watch TV, when something caught her eye. She turned towards the door, seeing a pile of letters under the letterbox there. She floated over, lifting them up before floating back to her sofa. She sifted through them, sighing at the bills; before one caught her eye. She lifted up the pale pink envelope, staring at it cautiously. In pale blue, swirly writing it read: _Marceline Abadeer, Vampire Queen._ She studied the patterned envelop; the soft white swirls mixing into the pale pink background. She raised an eyebrow before ripping the top off with her teeth. She emptied the letter onto the sofa, noticing how an aroma of sweet smells filled the room. She wrinkled her nose, lifting up the letter. It read:

_Dear Queen Marceline,_  
_You have been invited to attend the Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty on the 25th of May. You will be required to dress in your finery, along with your crown and you may bring a plus one. _  
_The event will be held in the Bad Lands at the Royal Congressional Hall, where your subjects will wait eagerly for your presence._  
_Let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend._  
_Yours sincerely, _  
_The Royal Order of Ooo_

"Hmm, didn't I perform a gig there once?" She muttered to herself, standing up. She sighed, floating upstairs to her room to search through her closets. "My finery? Ugh, I hate wearing that stuff," she spoke again, finally finding what she was looking for. She pulled out a long black dress. She sighed again before stripping off and pulling the dress on. She went to look in the mirror to check the dress out properly. In her reflection stood herself, her greyish skin colour looking paler than usual against the soft, long black dress. The dress itself fitted securely to her frame, giving her curves she never knew she had. There only strap on the dress lay on her left shoulder flowing out into the main part of the dress. Around the waist was a silver corset, studded with red rubies. To finish off, the dress flowed down below her knees and she let out a huff of exasperation.  
Then she had an idea. She grinned devilishly, before heading off to her sewing machine.

When Finn and Jake rang the doorbell at Marceline's house two days later, it took her 10 minutes to answer. They had repeatedly shouted her name, only to be hear the reply, "HANG ON A SECOND," before waiting another couple of minutes. When Finn and Jake decided to head home, the front door swung open and they turned to see Marceline stood there. But… Not Marceline?  
"Hey guys," she smiled, opening the door wider. "Coming in?"  
"Uhh…" Finn could feel his face getting hotter, but Jake walked straight past him into her house, Finn finally following. After she closed the door, she headed back upstairs, the boys at her heels. "What's with the new look?"  
"Oh, this? I have to attend this Royal meeting of Ooo or something, we have to wear our 'finery' but I hated mine, so I changed it. Now it's this," She swooped her hands down to support what she said before. Instead of the long, flowing dress she wore before, there was now a short, raggedy cut, shortened dress, still holding the silver corset encrusted with rubies, but now other patterns had been engraved on, an unknown language covered every space, making it look even more beautiful. The dress went down to the top of her thighs, hiding anything important. Accompanying the dress was fish-netted tights along with a pair of dainty black high heels. Most importantly, Marceline's long black hair floated around her body, curling at some edges, making her look even more magical. "Oh wait, I almost forgot," she muttered, jumping to her closet. Finn and Jake looked at each other, before Marceline returned with a silver object. "My crown," she said proudly, placing it on her head. The crown itself wasn't anything special; it was a simple, silver band which wrapped neatly around her head and hair, engraved with the same writing on the corset.  
"Wow…" Finn uttered, staring up at her. He felt a blush on his cheeks forming. "You look… Uh, really pretty."  
"Thanks, Finn!" She said, grinning as she noticed the blush. "Anyway, I gotta dash. This Royal Ooo Meeting thing is on today. Hey, you guys should totally tag along! The invite said I could bring a plus one- oh…" She trailed off, staring at the two of them.  
"Chill Marceline, I'm going on a hot date with Lady tonight anyway," Jake said, smiling. "You guys have fun."  
"Mathematical!" Finn yelled, punching the air.  
"One thing: you have to carry my Axe," She said. Finn's smile didn't even falter as he was thrown the heavy guitar case, causing him to fall flat on his back. He laughed.  
"Come on, Marceline! Let's go MEETING!" He yelled, punching the air again. Marceline rolled her eyes. _Why am I friends with such dorks?_


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived at the Royal Congressional Hall, Marceline's eyes landed on the pink figure at the door. Her stomach churned and she felt a wave of anxiety fall over her. Why was she here? _Oh yeah, she's royal. I guess I should have figured. _I took a quiet deep breath and arranged my facial expression to look like my normal, un-phased self. As Finn and Marceline walked up to the door, Princess Bubblegum's eyes landed on Finn. "Finn! What are you doing here? It's royals only, you know-" She cut herself off as she noticed Marceline stood beside him, glaring at her. "Oh. You're with Marceline." She frowned.

"Hey Bonnibel." Marceline said flatly.

Princess Bubblegum looked at the floor. "I'd prefer if you didn't call me that."

"Why not?"

"You know why." She raised her face to glare back at Marceline. She saw the anger and the hurt flash past Marceline's eyes, but it soon clouded over to a casual dullness.

"Whatever, Bonnibel. Let's go inside, Finn." They started to walk inside when the Princess stopped them.

"Hold on. What's that?" She pointed at the guitar case being held by Finn.

"It's my Axe. I knew this meeting thing would be boring as well, 'specially since you're obviously organising it. So I brought my Axe." The pink woman frowned again but Marceline ignored it. "Oh lighten up, Bon-Bon. Maybe one day you'll pull the stick out from your ass." Marceline gave her another glare before heading inside, tugging Finn along who looked extremely confused.

The meeting was basically a party, though of course Princess Bubblegum hadn't wanted to specify it as that. She sat up at the table of Royalty, playing with her food, resting on her elbow. She sighed, thinking about Marceline. She had no idea that Marceline would have been there. She had turned her from feeling great and amazing and happy enough to do anything, to a saddened wreck who could barely smile properly anymore. She looked down the long wooden table to see the vampire queen, laughing as Finn put straws on his teeth and pretended to be a vampire. The princess had felt so shocked to see Marceline when she walked up to the door, Finn beside her, wearing the most… Astonishing dress. She had tried to hide her shock by how… Beautiful Marceline looked. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her in her crown as well…

Suddenly, Princess Bubblegum was pulled out of her thoughts by having a big of food thrown at her. She sat up, wiping the food off of her cheek and looking down the table to see Marceline herself laughing. Laughing at her. Bubblegum glared, feeling herself on the edge of tears, and excused herself from the table. She headed to the bathroom accessible to only royals. The bathroom looked astounding, the brown oak walls and the marble floor, the long red carpet that swept along below the sinks. Seeing the bathroom empty, Bubblegum stood over at the sink, finally letting the last of her cheerful façade fall. She put her head in her hands and cried, letting out as much as she could. All she wanted right now was to be back at home in bed, wearing the T-shirt Marceline had gotten her for her birthday, looking at pictures of her and Marceline and just think about _Marceline._

The door quietly opened and Marceline stepped inside. She noticed Bubblegum crying, feeling a twinge of guilt in her stomach. _No, _she thought, _don't feel sympathy for her._ She walked towards her. "What happened, Bonnie? Get food in your pretty pink hair?" She mocked, sitting on the sink beside her, folding her arms.

"Get lost, Marceline," Bubblegum said, trying to sound normal. Marceline was recognised this as her 'I'm-Putting-A-Brave-Face-On' voice when she got upset.

"Seriously, Bon, what's up?" Marceline enquired, genuinely concerned for her.

"Like you'd care," Bubblegum snapped back, raising her head to wipe her eyes. She stared into the mirror, putting a calm expression on. She practised her perfect smile, before looking back to Marceline with a frown.

"Of course I care," Marceline stared at her, her eyebrows furrowed, "When did you think I didn't?"

"I'm not talking about this with you." The princess said, looking away from her.

"Why? Because _you're _the great Princess Bubblegum? Because you're Little-Miss-Perfection and you'd rather be seen _dead _than talk to a person of the undead?"

"Stop it, Marceline-"

"Stop what? Admitting what you can't? Admitting that I still care for you and still have feelings for you after you dumped me?!"

The princess stayed quiet, looking up at Marceline with sadness in her eyes. She saw the anger and hurt she'd seen once before in Marceline's eyes, but this time, it didn't flash away. It burned brightly, burning into her mind. All she wanted right then was to be back in the arms of her Marceline, back before all the crap went down. Back when she was happy.

"Forget it, Bonnibel. I'm not feeling sorry for you, not after what _you _did to _me_," Marceline spat, turning around and heading out the door.

Princess Bubblegum sunk the floor as she heard the door bang shut. She started crying again, but this time she controlled herself. She stopped her tears, dried her eyes. She put on her perfect smile, her fake perfect smile that would make anyone think she was okay. Then she stood up and left the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

"You okay, Marce?" Finn asked, nudging her at the table. He looked concerned for his friend; she was never normally this quiet and reserved, and she looked down at her hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, sighing. "Don't worry about it Finn, it's nothing you could help me with."

"Sure I can help! I can help with anything!" Finn said arrogantly, but it still put a smile on Marceline's face.

"Oh yeah? What about relationships?"

Finn's face fell. "Oh. I don't know anything about them. Damn, I really can't help. Oh! Oh! I could punch the guy in the face who's upsetting you, though! I shall not rest until that guy is-"

"It's a girl, Finn." Finn stared at her like she had a worm crawling out of her nose.

"…I can't fight girls." He muttered. He looked dumbfounded, staring at her strangely. Marceline laughed.

"You sure can't, Finn. Just forget about it, 'kay? Look, I'm fine now, see?" She grinned at him. He grinned back and was about to reply when someone tapped on Marceline's shoulder. She turned to see Cinnamon Bun.

"Hey, Marceline, you look great! I see you brought your Axe with you; we, being the Royal Order of Ooo, wondered if you would sing some songs for us. We all know that you're quite famous for your music across the kingdoms."

"Sure, I'd love to. Finn, pass me my Axe." Finn picked up the heavy case, handing it to Marceline. "Thanks. See you in the crowd!" She said cheerily, floating after Cinnamon Bun.

She set herself up on the stage, appearing before the crowd of people below her. At the back she could see the royal table, everyone perking up as she tested the microphone. "Hello, citizens of Ooo! Are you ready to hear real music?" The people cheered below her, recognising who she was. She started strumming quietly on her bass, getting the attention of the whole crowd. The words fell out of her mouth, as she noticed a certain pink-haired woman appear from the bathroom, a smile on her _face. _

_"La da da da da,_

_I'm gonna bury you in the ground,_

_La da da da da,_

_I'm gonna bury you with my sound,"_

Marceline watched as Princess Bubblegum sat back at the table, staring anywhere but at her. This infuriated Marceline, so she kept singing.

"_I'm gonna drink the red from your pretty pink face,_

_I'm gonna..."_

Princess Bubblegum stared up at her at this point, surprise in her eyes. Marceline started floating out above the crowd, suddenly unaware of the hundreds of people below her cheering and screaming. She had eyes for only Bubblegum, and it remained that way.

"_Sorry I don't treat you like a goddess,_

_Is that what you want me to do?_

_Sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect,_

_Like all your little loyal subjects do,_

_Sorry I'm not made of sugar,_

_Am I not sweet enough for you?_

_Is that why you always avoid me?_

_That must be such an inconvenience to you," _Princess Bubblegum bit her lip, unable to look away from Marceline's gaze. The memories of them together flashed in front of her eyes, including their break up.

_"Well... I'm just your problem,_

_I'm just your problem,_

_It's like I'm not, even a person, am I?_

_I'm just your problem,_

_Well, I-I-I-I-I-I-I shouldn't have to justify what I do_

_I-I-I-I-I-I-I shouldn't have to prove anything to you_

_I'm sorry that I exist,_

_I forget what landed me on your blacklist,_

_But I-I-I-I-I-I-I shouldn't have to be the one that makes up with you,_

_So... why do I want to?_

_Why do I want to..._

_To... bury you in the ground,_

_And drink the blood from your pretty pink face." _

Marceline's song ended, and by this time she was floating directly in front of Princess Bubblegum, waiting for her to say something. The crowd was screaming in delight, cheering and clapping. Bubblegum stared at her, trying to find the words. "Marceline, I… I… We'll talk later. Everyone's staring at us." Marceline's once hopeful expression was soon replaced by one of anger.

"Of course, it's all about appearance with you," She snarled, "Why don't you take your 'talk' and shove it up your ass?" She floated back to the stage, blasting out another song that had nothing to do with Princess Bubblegum, though the anger still blared behind Marceline's eyes.

Princess Bubblegum sighed, deciding now was the best time to leave. She stood up and headed to the door, grabbing her coat on the way out. Outside she found her guards and she was driven back to Candy Kingdom without a word from Marceline.


End file.
